Summary of Baird RFID Monthly for March

Baird has released its March report. The 21-page document is a worthwhile read for anyone requiring an overview of the industry's last 30 days. For those without time to do so, we have reprinted here the report's summary.

March 17, 2008—Wealth and asset management firm Robert W. Baird & Co. has released its RFID Monthly for March. Baird has given RFID Update permission to reprint the Key Developments section (below), which offers the report highlights. For those wanting more detail, the complete 21-page document is available free here.

The standard matrix of primary RFID providers is on page 15, and following are the Key Developments:

Aerospace Mandate. Lockheed has apparently issued a mandate for RFID tagging with Gen2 products in its Aerospace segment. A letter was issued in mid-February to all suppliers shipping into Lockheed's Aerospace facilities in Marietta, Georgia or Ft. Worth, Texas, indicating that those suppliers must tag all shipments by 2009. Language will be inserted into each customer's purchase order requiring the use of RFID.

Retail Expansion. According to industry sources, Metro intends to expand the number of stores receiving RFID pallets by 3x from its current 180 German-based Metro and Real stores. Many of the new sites will move internationally beyond Germany (see METRO Expands RFID to 200 More Locations). In addition, we understand that pilot activity is becoming more pronounced at two or three of the other large retailers and from several of the second-tier group. Several vendors indicate that most of this activity is in Europe, and expect pilot expansion in 2H08.

Retail and Consumer Product Companies Beginning to Look at RFID for Growth Opportunities. We are also seeing innovative thoughts on how retailers and consumer product companies approach applying RFID to enhance revenue growth prospects and drive customer service, which we view as an important potential driver of ROI. We also expect it will drive investment contributions from marketing departments.

Washington State Passes More Reasonable RFID Language; Privacy Remains an Important Issue. Recall, the Washington House passed a somewhat bureaucratic bill (House Bill #1031) in February that would have required meaningful store warnings, incremental security precautions and in many respects, pre-judged RFID technology as invading privacy. The Washington Senate passed a less onerous version on March 4 with a bill that is now more oriented towards banning unlawful behavior more than restricting the technology. While we are encouraged by this more pragmatic outcome, we remain concerned given pending legislation in New Hampshire, Tennessee, Alaska and Missouri.